Julieth Mollel in on a mission—to transform her life and the lives of her neighbors through light. Julieth is one of thousands of women who is working to end energy poverty. She is doing it by selling solar lanterns and clean cookstoves in her community near Arusha, Tanzania.

Energy poverty is the lack of access to electricity and other modern energy services. In Sub Sahara Africa, more than 600 million people do not have access to electricity. And that number is rising, spurred by increasing population, according to the International Energy Agency.

Without modern energy sources, women spend long hours searching for fuel wood for their traditional stoves. Traditional stoves are associated with indoor pollution and adverse health effects that include respiratory infections, cancer and lung diseases. Families also spend precious resources on kerosene to fuel lanterns at night. More often their houses are dark.

Julieth used to cook the traditional way—using three stones and an open fire pit—which required a lot of firewood. She collected the wood daily—a chore that grew as sources of fuel wood took longer to reach.

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